Rebuilding the Immortal Cultivator Clan

Chapter 353: 359 Chapter: Accumulation

As for the Hundred Vermilion Pill that Li Zhirui had received from Yun Qingrou, he was not in a hurry to consume it. After all, he had just made a breakthrough not long ago and his realm was not yet stable. Metabolizing a Spirit Pill containing massive amounts of mana would destabilize his foundation, which would be detrimental rather than beneficial to his future path of cultivation.

He would need to wait at least a few years, until his realm had fully consolidated, before attempting to metabolize the Hundred Vermilion Pill. By doing so, he would not only avoid damaging his own foundation but also be able to better harness the medicinal potency of the Spirit Pill.

——

Time flew quickly, and in the blink of an eye, several days had passed.

The long-sealed quiet chamber opened from the inside, and Li Zhirui walked out with a calm expression on his face.

”Fengwu isnʼt home?” His Divine Sense swept over the area, discovering that the cave dwelling was empty but Li Zhirui knew how long this seclusion had lasted.

In the courtyard, on a huge rock, were the dates Jiang Fengwu had carved day by day, showing that more than six months had passed since the day Li Zhirui had gone into seclusion.

As for Da Qing and Xiaoqing, they now had their own small homes, and since their mates had not yet transformed into human form, it was not very convenient for them to live together with Li Zhiruiʼs family.

However, the Li family had not treated them poorly. After all, they were third-order Spirit Beasts and also Li Zhiruiʼs Contracted Spirit Beasts, so they were directly allowed to open up two Spirit Caves in the Spirit Beast Mountain as their cave dwellings.

”It hasnʼt been too long.” Moreover, even if there were any suspicions, Li Zhirui could assert that after finishing his cultivation, he didnʼt leave seclusion, and instead took the opportunity to continue contemplating the Pill Recipe for the Purification Pill in the quiet chamber—after all, no one in the clan could verify the truth of his words.

Since nobody was at home, Li Zhirui decided to simply go out for a walk to make his presence felt and incidentally collect a batch of alchemy materials from the storeroom.

If he remembered correctly, the various third-order Spirit Pills he had left with the clan before going into seclusion were almost depleted.

If Li Zhirui didnʼt come out of seclusion to perform Alchemy soon, they would have to start selling high-quality Spirit Pills to the Southern Edge Commerce Association.

”Uncle Shiling, youʼre here to collect Alchemy materials, arenʼt you?” As soon as Li Zhirui entered the storeroom, a junior Executor approached eagerly, asking with a fawning expression.

”Mmm, I reckon the familyʼs supply of Spirit Pills is running low, so I came to collect some Spiritual Medicine,” he said, simultaneously dispelling some speculative thoughts of the curious.

”Oh my,” the Executor said somewhat exaggeratedly, ”for such a small matter, why should Uncle Shiling bother himself personally? You only need to send us a Communication Talisman, and within an hour, the Spiritual Medicine would be delivered right to your cave dwelling.”

”Itʼs no trouble; after contemplating the Pill Recipe for so long, itʼs just right to go out and relax a bit,” said Li Zhirui who, having said all he wanted, didnʼt wish to get entangled any further, and promptly instructed: ”Go and collect a hundred portions of materials for the third-order Spirit Pills like the Essence-Enhancing Pill and Qi Replenishing Pill.”

He paused, then added, ”If thereʼs more available, take some extra as well. After refining this batch of Spiritual Medicine, I plan to continue contemplating the Purification Pill, so itʼd be good to have a surplus of Spirit Pills.”

”Alright, Uncle Shiling, please wait a moment,” said the Executor before hurrying off.

Such a large quantity of Spiritual Medicine was something a junior Executor could not decide on his own; it would require requesting an Elder to meet with Li Zhirui. Of course, this was merely a formality, as the clan would not possibly refuse this request.

Indeed, as soon as the Internal Affairs Elder appeared, he greeted Li Zhirui while instructing the Executor to retrieve the Spiritual Medicine from the storeroom.

As these Spiritual Medicines were assorted and stored categorically, it only took a moment for two Executors to enter carrying several storage bags.

”Uncle Shiling, please check the contents,” one of them said.

Li Zhirui responded affirmatively and sent his Divine Sense into the storage bags, meticulously checking each Jade Box one by one.

It might seem troublesome, but for cultivators who wield immense divine sense, itʼs not an issue at all. In less than half an hour, Li Zhirui had counted all the hundreds of jade boxes.

”No problem!” Li Zhirui said. He then used mana to grab the storage bag towards himself, stood up, and bid farewell.

”True to his reputation, the prodigy of the Li family not only excels in cultivation, but also far surpasses others in the art of alchemy,” the Internal Affairs Elder murmured enviously as he watched Li Zhiruiʼs departing figure.

”Elder, Iʼve heard that the familyʼs rise is largely thanks to Uncle Shiling. Is that true?” the Executor asked curiously.

Although both were of the same generation, there was a significant age gap between them. By the time the Executor was of age to remember things, information about Li Zhirui within the family had already become scarce.

This was intentional on Li Zhiruiʼs part, as he didnʼt want to expose himself to the public eye, choosing instead to develop his strength quietly and then astonish the world!

At the same time, it was also a form of protection. After all, a small force that suddenly boasts a brilliant individual isnʼt usually a good thing, as it can bring trouble to both the individual and the group they belong to.

As an elder, the Internal Affairs Elder certainly understood this, so in response to his subordinateʼs question, he just smiled and said, ”How could it be that exaggerated? The familyʼs development is the result of the combined efforts of all the elders.”

After speaking, he didnʼt wait to see if his subordinate believed him and hastily left. He had many responsibilities and didnʼt have time for idle chatter.

Li Zhirui was unaware of their conversation. When he returned to his cave residence, he found that Jiang Fengwu had already returned.

Hearing noises from outside, Jiang Fengwu turned around with joy on her face. Seeing that it was indeed Li Zhirui, she said excitedly, ”Youʼve finally ended your retreat!”

After carefully observing Li Zhirui, she noticed that his aura didnʼt seem any different from before and asked uncertainly, ”Zhirui, have you really broken through to the Golden Core Late Stage?”

”Of course!” After Li Zhirui closed the courtyard door, he casually withdrew his concealment, and the pressure of the Golden Core Late Stage immediately permeated the area.

Only after seeing it with her own eyes did Jiang Fengwu believe he wasnʼt lying, but noticing the many storage bags he brought back, she couldnʼt hide her disappointment and said, ”Youʼve just come out of seclusion, and youʼre already going to start refining elixirs again.”

”Donʼt worry, this time I will only spend a little time each day refining one or two batches of spirit pills; Iʼm not in a hurry,” he reassured her.

Jiang Fengwu then brightened up, ”But youʼve brought back so many Spiritual Medicines, wonʼt it be tough for you?”

Li Zhirui chuckled lightly, teasing, ”What? Are you worried about me?”

”Whoʼs worried about you!” Jiang Fengwu said somewhat embarrassedly, stubbornly denying it.

”Rest assured, alchemy is also a form of cultivation for me. It refines mana and reinforces my foundation.”

Li Zhirui was eager to solidify his foundation and then take the Hundred Vermilion Pill to save himself decades of cultivation time.

Jiang Fengwu nodded thoughtfully, then asked excitedly, ”So, does that mean when I craft Array Flags, Iʼm also refining my mana?”

”Certainly,” Li Zhirui affirmed confidently, ”Not only that, formations are derived from an understanding of the universe. In the process of arranging and creating formations, you could say youʼre also contemplating the universe.”

Of course, it wasnʼt as effective as directly contemplating the universe itself.